As I've written before, my 17" color TV with DirecTV has a good picture and I'm in no hurry to spend a couple of thousand bucks for HDTV.
It appears that I am not alone. $200 with a good picture vs. $2,000 with a slightly better picture... It looks like it's going to be a good long while before I get HD.
On another note, I have the whole Dolby 5.1 thing hooked up, but I hardly ever use it. The whole surround sound thing is annoying. The wide range of volumes guarantees that I'll have the TV way too loud in order to hear the quiet parts. With the straight stereo TV speakers, that isn't a problem.
My house isn't a theater and I would like to be able to carry on a conversation during the commercials. With the 5.1 on and the LOUD commercials, it's just plain irritating.
Two thousand for an HDTV? You gotta be kidding. Try $300-$500 for something around the same size. And if you have cable, for an extra $5-$8 bucks a month you can upgrade your normal cable set top box to one that decodes HD signals. Wah-lah - instant HDTV for not much more than legacy analog TV.
Technology moves fast. HD hardware and signal access has come WAY down in price over the past 2 to 3 years.
You have obviously never really seen a true HD picture. Comparing a 17 inch $200 set and picture to $2000 big screen HD picture and set is like saying that there is no difference between looking out a dirty window and opening the window. I have both a 26 inch SDTV and a 47 inch HDTV hooked up to DTV and there is no comparison between the picture quality and sound.
It appears that I am not alone. $200 with a good picture vs. $2,000 with a slightly better picture... It looks like it's going to be a good long while before I get HD.
Two points; The FCC has mandated that all broadcasts be in HD by 2007...this has been postponed a couple of times...but when it comes, you will definitely have to "invest" in some new DirecTV equipment just to continue using your 17" TV.
Second point, I bought a very nice Magnavox LCD 32" thin HD TV for $1000 about 18 months ago. I would guess that that price has declined somewhat since then. Of course you can find some bigger screens, with more bells and whistles for a lot more money, but a move from a 17" standard definition picture to a 32" widescreen HD picture would really impress you.
There are HDTV's that can be had for MUCH less than thousands of dollars. I got my 32" TUBE HDTV for $299 as a refurb. It's Fan-Freakin-tastic. I have a narrow family room, so 32" is just fine. I live West North West of DC and get all the DC OTA HD channels and most of Baltimore's as well.
HDTV and free HD programming for a grand total of $299. That's hard to beat.
hey I have a 5in black and white I will trade with you.